We use cookies to personalise content, target and report on ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. For more information see our Cookie Policy.

Shelf awareness

Fri, Sep 28, 2018, 00:04

Sir, – What a great photograph of the refurbished Kevin Street library in Dublin (Dara Mac Dónaill , September 27th). Books, a seated reader, good furniture, a musician and not a computer or an online gadget in sight; the public library really does bestow a nobility on people who might not otherwise afford it at all. The lady sitting on a chair is representative of many older people who, were it not for the library, might well end up staying home alone.

While other local establishments, such as cafes, ask people to pay for access to a shared gathering place, libraries are “free for all”. As a recent report puts it, libraries are “founded on a principle that’s out of sync with our contemporary ethos: that everyone, by virtue of their humanity, deserves access to our shared cultural heritage”. – Yours, etc,